Star Cruises Reports Q2 2002 Earnings

Details

August 30, 2002

The Star Cruises Group has reported net income of $29.5 million, or $0.71 per share, on revenues of $389.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2002, compared to net income of $4.8 million, or $0.12 per share, on revenues of $327.2 million for the second quarter last year.

According to Star, the better-than-expected results were achieved through a 15.9 percent increase in capacity; a 1.6 percent increase in net revenue yields; and a 6.3 percent decrease in operating and SG&A expenses per capacity day as a result of greater economies of scale and stringent cost-control measures.

The group did report an additional liability of $5.4 million from an arbitration settlement related to the early return of the 960-passenger Leeward (ex­ Superstar Taurus) to its owner, as well as the early return of the 800-passenger Norwegian Star 1.

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2002, the Star Cruises Group reported net income of $35.9 million, or $0.86 per share, on revenues of $757.8 million, compared to net income of $9.2 million, or $0.22 per share, on revenues of $662.2 million for the same period last year.

NCL Group

The NCL Group comprised of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and Orient Lines - reported revenues of $268.7 million for the second quarter versus $206.3 million the previous year. NCL and Orient recorded a 30.6 percent increase in capacity days following the introduction of the 2,000-passenger Norwegian Sun and 2,200-passenger Norwegian Star in the second half of last year. Net revenue yield for the quarter increased 3.3 percent.

"Reductions in both ship operating expenses and SG&A expenses on a per-capacity-day basis were achieved as the NCL Group continued to benefit from economies of scale from the increase in capacity and the merging of its shoreside operations of Orient Lines and NCL during the last quarter of 2001," said the company. "Additional cost-control measures initiated in the middle of last year and amplified after Sept. 11 have also added to the overall cost reductions.

"The NCL brand has had a good first half, with ships sailing full and yields up on last year," said the company. "This in spite of the depressing effect on yields of the post-Sept. 11 booking environment with respect to cruises during the first two months of the year. Yields on the wholly overseas destination­ oriented deployment of Orient Lines have been significantly impacted by the post-Sept. 11 falloff in international travel and this has brought the blended yield for the NCL/Orient Lines group to a lower point than last year.

Both of the new ships now in service, Norwegian Sun and Norwegian Star, have had a very pleasing first half, with high occupancy and yields and good passenger satisfaction scores, according to a prepared statement.

Star Cruises

In Asia, Star Cruises reported revenues of $121.1 million for the second quarter, versus $120.9 million for the same period the previous year. Star operated with 6.8 percent fewer capacity days during the second quarter of 2002, primary as a result of the early return of the Superstar Taurus and Norwegian Star 1, partially offset by the introduction of the Wasa Queen and the reintroduction of the Superstar Capricorn. Net revenue yield for Star increased 3.9 percent during the quarter, "reflecting the more favorable business conditions regionally," said Star. Ship operating expenses and SG&A expenses per capacity day decreased 4.2 percent and 13.5 percent respectively.

"Star Cruises will continue to develop the largely untapped Chinese market," said the company. "The rapidly growing number of outbound passengers from China - which registered a 31 percent increase in the first half of 2001 as compared with the first half of 2000, and a 128 percent increase for the first six months of 2002 as compared with the same period in 2001 augers well for the two ships which are currently deployed to penetrate the homeland China cruise market (the Wasa Queen and Superstar Gemini)."